There is probably no more efficient way to see
the sights of Paris than from the top of a tourist bus.
All the big hitters—the Eiffel
tower, the Louvre museum, Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, the Champs Elysées—one
after another, like beads on a string. And all you have to do is sit, snap a
few pictures, and possibly hop off (and back on again). It’s a dream,
especially for those who are short on time or have limited mobility.
Dozens of these buses shuttle
across the center of Paris every day. But for all they benefit travelers,
locals find them a pain, clogging up traffic channels and roundabouts, and
generally getting in the way.
If the Paris mayor has its
say, however, these tour buses may not exist for much longer. Earlier this
week, deputy mayor Emmanuel Grégoire revealed a plan to remove them from the
city’s hotspots altogether.
“We no longer want tourist
buses as they are now, wreaking total anarchy throughout Paris. Visitors will
use public transport like everyone else. Current tour guides will be able to run
cycle tours or lead walking groups with audio guides”, Grégoire added.
The initiative is part of a
city-wide fight against overtourism, which has driven up rents and left
tourists queueing for hours at a time to see the city’s sights. Right now it is
impossible to get an afternoon ticket to visit the Eiffel tower at any point in
the next three weeks. Visitors must book as much as three months in advance to
make sure they are not disappointed.
Overtourism is an issue for EU
countries and some European cities feel increasing pressure to impose
clamp-down measures on their visitors. Rome, which has nearly 10 million
international visitors per year, in December 2018 banned the practice of
dressing up as historical figures and posing with tourists, and limited where tour buses can go and how many
can visit the city center.
